North Garo Hills (Meghalaya) [India], July 29 (ANI): Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma on Thursday launched FOCUS+, an expansion of his flagship initiative FOCUS, to benefit all households across Meghalaya.

Shillong Feb 26 PTI Meghalaya on Saturday recorded 24 new COVID-19 cases two less than the previous day pushing the caseload to 93437 while two more deaths took the toll to 1577 health officials saidOf the new infections East Khasi Hills district reported seven followed by three each from East Garo Hills Ri Bhoi South West Khasi Hills and West Garo Hills one each from East Jaintia Hills Eastern West Khasi Hills North Garo Hills South West Garo Hills and West Jaintia Hills districts Health Services director Dr Aman War saidThe state now has 189 active coronavirus cases he saidA total of 91671 coronavirus patients have recovered from the disease so far including 44 on Saturday he saidMeghalaya has conducted more than 1361 lakh sample tests for COVID-19 to date and more than 1268 lakh people have tested negative he saidAs of Friday the state has inoculated a total of 2348 lakh people with more than 963296 of them receiving both doses of the vaccine War said PTI JOP SBN MM MM

Shillong Feb 25 PTI Meghalaya on Friday reported 26 new COVID-19 cases 10 more than the previous day pushing the tally to 93413 health officials saidThe toll increased to 1575 with two more deaths Health Services Director Dr Aman War saidThe state now has 211 active cases he saidOf the new cases East Khasi Hills reported 11 West Jaintia Hills reported four and North Garo Hills reported threeSo far 91627 patients have recovered in the state including 34 on Friday PTI JOP SBN SOM SOM

Shillong Jan 28 PTI Meghalaya recorded 361 new COVID-19 cases on Friday 73 more than the previous day pushing the caseload to 90202 a senior health official said The coronavirus death toll in the state rose to 1515 as six more patients succumbed to the disease Health Services director Dr Aman War said The state now has 2422 active cases he said Of the new cases the highest 182 patients were detected from East Khasi Hills district followed by 88 in West Garo Hills 19 in Ri Bhoi 15 in West Jaintia Hills 13 in South West Garo Hills nine in Eastern West Khasi Hills seven each in East Jaintia Hills and North Garo Hills six each in East Garo Hills and South Garo Hills five in West Khasi Hills and four in South West Khasi Hills districts he said In Meghalaya 86265 people have recovered from the infection including 348 in the last 24 hours The state has conducted over 1312 lakh tests for COVID-19 thus far he said Till Thursday a total of 2268 lakh people have been inoculated with over 927180 people receiving both doses of the vaccine War said PTI JOP SBN MM MM

Shillong Nov 18 PTI Meghalaya Minister Conrad K Sangma said the state government will be engaging with all stakeholders to find a way forward for the introduction of goods train till Byrnihat in Khasi Hills Several organisations in the Khasi Hills of Meghalaya have been opposing the construction of the 205 km long Tetelia-Byrnihat railway line The anti-railways groups have been protesting against the introduction of railways in the state in the absence of a foolproof mechanism to check influx of outsiders into the state We will be engaging with concerned stakeholders and at least find some way forward to get a goods train if not a passenger train immediately the chief minister told reporters on Wednesday Sangma said the railway line issue is slightly complicated because it is linked with so many other factors with the different organizations demanding the implementation of the Inner Line Permit ILP Our government and the Government of India is still holding on to it ILP resolution passed by the state Assembly in 2019 the CM said He said that his government has been trying to address all issues that have been legacy issues for many years The chief minister further stated that the government is working towards finding a path or a point where there is some kind of a consensus if not a passenger train but at least a goods train up to Byrnihat which will benefit the people of the state We want to see if there can there be an adjustment can there be understanding and agreement that we have at least the goods train coming in by engaging with the concerned stakeholders he said The chief minister said the state had witnessed during the COVID period that thousands of trucks coming in and there was a huge cost factor If we have the railways then we would have been able to get the goods at a much more economical rate and at the same we would not have the exposure to truck drivers coming in and going out - so all these factors are advantages he stated When asked about the anti-railway groups protest against the project since Meghalaya does not have any mechanism to check influx Sangma said the government is talking about goods trains and not the passenger train Obviously goods train means goods and products which will be for the people and that will help the people in general so there is no question of influx when it comes to goods train So can we have a meeting point where we can say at least the benefit of the goods can come to the common man and the citizens of the state so maybe we could move in that while we discuss how we can check the infiltration part or the concerns of the different organizations he said Meghalaya entered the railway map of India when the first passenger train linking Mendipathar in North Garo Hills district with Dudhnoi in Assam was flagged off by Prime Minister Narendra Modi via a video link from Railway Stadium at Maligaon Assam on November 29 2014 Of the total length of 1975 km of the Mendipathar-Dudhnoi railway line 1026 km falls in Assam and 949 km in Meghalayas North Garo Hills district In Mendipathar we have already started the facilitation centre where if you go and see there is some kind of checking of individuals coming so all those things are steps that are confidence building measures We are hopeful that we will be able to move this forward also as I said it is a complex issue but we are trying our best as I said we cannot resolve everything but I hope will be able to find some way forward especially when it comes to the goods train he added On the reason why Garo people have welcomed the goods train wholeheartedly unlike in the Khasi Hills region the chief minister said that from the governments point of view it wanted that the goods train should be on both sides He also claimed that the economy of Mendipathar has really gone up after the goods train has arrived thereToday people are sending their vegetables to Guwahati People who were selling vegetables at Rs 100 Rs 200 or Rs 300 a day are today getting Rs 2000 or Rs 3000 the different products that are coming in which used to be costing much higher in Mendipathar earlier today are getting products that are cheaper in Mendipathar compared to Dudnoi and Krisnoi which means there is a huge economic advantage to them Sangma said this is clearly economic advantage and people of Garo Hills have felt that this economic advantage without really affecting the illegal immigration aspect has happened Mendipathar is a very good example of that people have benefited so I hope this example can be replicated in Byrnihat where we can take advantage of the railway in terms of economic benefits for the people and yet not go into the negative or the issues that are concerning the people of illegal immigration where we dont have passengers train as of now and we start with the goods train he said The chief minister also assured that only when the people feel comfortable will the government take the aspect of the passenger train into consideration Lets hope Mendipathar is a good example of that and people have benefited hugely in Garo Hills because of the goods train that has landed in Mendipathar he said PTI JOP RG RG

Shillong Nov 17 PTI Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma on Wednesday said his government is spending around Rs 2000 crore annually for the education sector to strengthen infrastructure in schools and colleges and introduced several schemes to ensure that students get opportunities for higher studies The state government has supported nine colleges under its Peoples College programme and encourages setting up of more such higher education institutes to improve the standard of education in the state he said We must come up with more colleges Before the 2018 elections we pledged that we would work towards prioritising education We have formalised the state education policy and have been working to streamline the sector the chief minister said while addressing a programme in Mendipathar in North Garo Hills district He said the government initiated various programmes like Community College and Model College to ensure that students get opportunities for higher education We have been spending over Rs 2000 crore annually for the education sector But this allocation is still not enough We sanctioned Rs 100 crore for improving overall infrastructure in around 200 government Lower Primary schools All these LP schools were in dilapidated condition he said The Meghalaya Democratic Alliance government has taken steps to regularise employment of teachers and around 1300 educators were recruited this year the CM said Scholarships for students have also been increased to Rs 15000 depending on grades and categories he said Speaking on the limited opportunities for studying science subjects in the state he said Our children who want to study science and are good at innovation and mathematics do not have many options This is the challenge we face and the government is looking at ways to move forward On the demand for Provincialisation of Mendipathar College that celebrates its golden jubilee Conrad said We will examine it and find the way how we could support North Garo Hills district and the Garo Hills region Provincialised educational institutes in the state get aid from the government The chief minister also released a souvenir of 50 years journey of Mendipathar College Speaking on the occasion Education Minister Lahkmen Rymbui said the government has been working to streamline the sector and ensure welfare of teachers and students We are trying to strengthen the sector to ensure that the learning experience for our students is improved he added PTI JOP BDC BDC

Shillong Aug 25 PTI Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma on Wednesday inaugurated a facilitation centre at a railway station in North Garo Hills district to keep track of people entering the state The facility was set up at Mendipathar Railway Station The facilitation centre will keep a record of visitors arriving at the station and entering the state the CM said after inaugurating the facility It will enable the district administration to effectively monitor the flow of visitors from neighbouring Assam and outside the region He also said the state government is setting up an Rs100-crore food park in Mendipathar which has emerged as a preferred destination for investors as it has requisite infrastructure and rail connectivity PTI JOP SBN BDC BDC

Regional9 fall to COVID on Sunday in MeghalayaCorrespondent Shillong Aug 22 Publish Date 8222021 120840 PM ISTMeghalaya recorded 9 COVID-19 related deaths on Sunday pushing the death toll in the state to 1278According to Director of Health Services MI Dr Aman War 6 deaths were reported from East Khasi Hills district 2 from West Khasi Hills district and 1 South West Khasi Hills districtThese include 184 in East Khasi Hills 51 West Khasi Hills 12 West Garo Hills 24 Ri Bhoi 33 West Jaintia Hills 0 East Garo Hills 2 North Garo Hills 0 East Jaintia Hills 2 South Garo Hills 6 South West Khasi Hills and 3 South West Garo HillsOf these 143 are from East Khasi Hills 40 West Garo Hills 22 West Jaintia Hills 81 West Khasi Hills 4 East Garo Hills 4 North Garo Hills 10 South Garo Hills 4 South West Garo Hills 7 East Jaintia Hills 39 Ri Bhoi and 28 South West Khasi HillsThere are 330 in West Khasi Hills 232 West Garo Hills 132 South West Khasi Hills 39 East Jaintia Hills 23 North Garo Hills 25 East Garo Hills 24 South West Garo Hills and 30 South Garo Hills